Ski'tknihkk 1"), 1921 



The Florists' Review 



21 



LOS ANGELES LEADERS 



PALMS AT SIERBA MADBE. 



Replacing Imported Stock. 



' ' The palm nursery of Bassett & 

 Washburn, situated at Sierra Madre, 

 Los Angeles county, is about sixteen 

 miles from Los Angeles and only a few 

 blocks from the terminus of the Pacific 

 Electric car lino. Electric cars run 

 to the terminus every hour, leaving Los 

 Angeles on the even hour and making 

 the trip in forty-five minutes. 



"These nurseries were started by 

 Bassett & Washburn about seven years 

 ago. The company imports the palm 

 seeds from Sydney, Australia. Three 

 greenhouses have been especially 

 erected with seed propagation benches 

 for the germination of the seed. The 

 temperature of these houses is kept 

 at an average of about 90 degrees. 

 As soon as the seed is germi- 

 nated, it is potted in 2-inch pots and 

 placed in houses having glass roofs, 

 but heavily shaded. The temperature 

 in these houses is kept close to 65 de- 

 grees. After standing for a year in 

 2-inch pots, the plants are- repotted into 

 3^/^-inch and 4-inch pots and are allowed 

 a slightly cooler temperature. After 

 another year the plants in the larger- 

 sized pots are planted out, under lath, 

 in ground specially prepared and ferti- 

 lized. 



"The plants are watered by overhead 

 sprinklers and the feeding of the plants 

 is accomplished at regular intervals. 

 Of course, the ground containing the 

 plants is kept cultivated and entirely 

 clear of weeds. Also the plants are 

 given careful attention to protect 

 them from scale, etc., and they are 

 sprayed with rosin spray whenever 

 necessary. After four years in the 

 ground, the plants are i)otted into 6- 

 inch pots for the single plants and into 

 8-inch pots for tlie made-up plants. 

 The ])lants are then left in the pots un- 

 til tliey have become thoroughly estab- 

 lished. This takes from one to two 

 years, so that the interval from the 

 time the seed is first planted until the 

 time the plants are ready for sale 

 varies from eight to ten years, accord- 

 ing to the size of the plant. 



■'It recjuires a great deal of jtatience 

 to yrow ])alms successfully. A visit 

 to tliis nursery will ])rove interesting 

 and tlie }>roj)rietors extend a cordial in- 

 vitation to all to come and look over 

 the place. The Pasadena office is lo- 

 cated at 611 Central liuilding." 



What Modesty Omitted. 



Tlie .'(liovc note, kindly sent by C. L. 

 Wasli})nrn, is indicative of the great 

 care taken })y the firm of Bassett & 

 Washbnrn to liave everything it sends 

 out of a character tliat is bound to give 

 satisfaction to the customer. But, 

 with characteristic modesty, Mr. Wash- 

 burn has omitted to give any idea of 

 the size of the company's model place 

 at Sierr;i Madrt\ The three green- 

 houses whidi lie mentions are eaeli 20x 

 128 and are used entirely for raising 

 seedlings. No less than .'^OO bushels of 



The exhibition features being prepared 

 for the convention of the California As- 

 sociation of Nurserymen are expected to 

 draw many trade visitors to Los Angeles 

 October 20 to S3. Additional interest 

 will be found by them in a number of 

 establishments in the vicinity which oc- 

 cupy a prominent place in our industry. 

 Some of these are described in current 

 issues of The Review, one on this page. 



seed Ayere sown this year, while the 

 place in all covers sixteen acres. 



Walking through these immense lath 

 houses, one cannot help being struck 

 by the cleanliness, thriftiness and good 

 color of all the plants, no matter in 

 what stage of growth. Everything has 

 an orderly and tidy appearance. Con- 

 sider, even, the matter of commercial 

 fertilizer. This is not allowed to lie 

 about exposed to the sun and air, but 

 a large warehouse has been built pur- 

 posely for the fertilizer. Everything, 

 in short, is along the best and most up- 

 to-date lines and proves a credit to 

 this famous firm. No better advice can 

 be given than that you accept the invi- 



1 at ion so cordially tendered, for the 

 visit will prove more interesting than 

 inanv jiajjers of writing about it. 



H. I{. K. 



FLORICULTURE AT CORNELL. 



A Short Course Offered. 



Floriculture, or the growing of flow- 

 ers and plants under glass, which was 

 originally a luxury of the wealthy, has 

 developed into a profession which is 

 now one of the most important of the 

 agricultural specialties. Today, flori- 

 culture is a profession based on sci- 

 entific knowledge. There is not a town 

 of importance in New York state which 

 does not liave one or more floral es- 

 tablishments. In fact. New York is 

 distinctly a flower-growing state and 

 the glass area devoted to the culture 

 of flowers amounts to something over 

 13,000,000 square feet. 



Competition is becoming keener 

 among flower growers and progressive 

 young men now engaged in the busi- 

 ness should realize that they owe some- 

 thing to tlieniselvos in tlie wav of self- 



Kentia Made Up of Plants Grown Separately in the Field at Sierra Madre. 



